


The Cultures of Colchis

by Arameyy



Category: Horus Heresy - Various Authors, Warhammer - All Media Types, Warhammer 40k (Novels) - Various Authors
Genre: Few/No Major Character Appearances, Gen, Selectively Ignoring Stupid Canon, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 16:36:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19321996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arameyy/pseuds/Arameyy
Summary: Lady Lenora Pelke of the Maglan’s Voyage presents her findings on the newly-discovered planet 16-Veritas-III, known to its locals as Colchis, in preparation for its eventual compliance.Worldbuilding for pre-Imperium Colchis, since Gav Thorpe decided he’d rather spend most of Lorgar’s primarch novel writing about Kor Phaeron. Eventual companion piece to a fic I haven’t written yet.





	The Cultures of Colchis

**Table of Contents**  
Preliminary Report on 16-Veritas-III, “Colchis”  
Cities, Civilizations, and Social Structure  
Religion and the Covenant  
Weaponry and Warfare  
Trade, Economy, and Infrastructure  
Rites and Rituals  
Colchis before Old Night  
Flora and Fauna  
Transportation  
Diet and Cuisine  
Fashion and Beauty Standards  
Naming Conventions  
Astrology  
Ailments and Medicine  


**Preliminary Report on 16-Veritas-III, “Colchis”**

Colchis is a small human-settled planet located in the Veritas sector of the Segmentum Pacificus. Its system is comprised of five planets orbiting a yellow dwarf star approximately twice the size of Sol and several times brighter. The third planet from its sun, Colchis is the only planet within the system’s habitable zone, though evidence suggests that the fourth planet was also home to a small, enclosed human colony before Old Night. By the thirtieth millennium, only Colchis is settled, but all five planets are orbited by ancient satellites and ruined space stations from an era long forgotten.

Of the other four planets within the system, the first two are small and mineral-rich: the first a telluric-type and the second a carbon-type. Evidence suggests that both played host to orbital mining platforms during the Dark Age of Technology. The fourth planet is icy, approximately three times the size of Terra with no atmosphere. It may be possible to terraform 16-Veritas-IV with the support of the Mechanicum, though this process would likely take decades. The most distant planet in the system is a supermassive gas giant, bordering classification as a brown dwarf star. The author advises against development around this planet due to its immense gravity, which serves to capture many of the asteroids making their way into the system. Additionally, simulations suggest that it will escape 16-Veritas' gravity at some point in the 35th millennium, presenting a serious problem for any long-term settlements. (See Appendix 1A-E for detailed elemental compositions of each planet.)

Colchis itself is a little larger than Mars, primarily desert with one sea near the 40th parallel north. At some point in the planet’s early geological history, an asteroid impact dramatically altered its rotation, such that one day on Colchis lasts for approximately one Terran week. The locals have adapted remarkably well, dividing their week into twenty-four hour segments consisting of pseudo-morning, afternoon, and night periods. For newcomers, however, the extended days and nights wreak havoc on one’s circadian rhythms, as the author herself discovered upon venturing to the planet’s surface. Planetside, opinions differ as to the location of the impact crater, with some scholars arguing that it lays beneath the sea and others arguing that it forms the lowland desert region of the Low Barrens. Any ancient writings on this topic, if they once existed, are long since lost, and only a geological survey from orbit is likely to reach a definitive conclusion, if one judges the information relevant.  


Most of Colchis’ population is clustered in city-states near the sea, though ruins scattered across the planet’s surface indicate it was much more widely populated in the past. The equatorial and polar regions of the planet represent ‘dead zones’, the day/night cycle too intense for survival at a feudal level of technology. At the Imperium’s level, such temperatures represent only a minor obstacle to settlement, easily rectified with minor terraforming or by building climate-controlled hive cities. 

It is the author’s opinion that the Colchis system is a prime target for contact and future colonization. The vast swathes of empty space are ripe for hive city development, while the ruins and orbital debris from the Dark Age of Technology would be of particular interest to the Mechanicum. The author is unaware of any nearby agri-worlds which could sustain a hive-world, but she believes that Mars would be willing to sponsor the planet and subsidize the process in return for its technological and mineral resources.

In the following pages, the author will be laying out her findings on the social, cultural, and technological climate of Colchis, in the hopes that they will be useful for future compliance actions. 

Lady Lenora Pelke  
Planetary Surveyor and Anthropologist  
_Maglan’s Voyage_  
1,301st Expeditionary (Scout) Fleet

**Author's Note:**

> I have some pretty strong feelings about Lorgar's primarch novel, but I'll spare you all the rant on it. In any case, I have the book handy and I'm happy to clarify any details, as well as point out what's canon, possibly canon, or my own creation. Table of contents is subject to change - first five are more or less set in stone, but I'm willing to reorder or substitute subsequent chapters based on reader interest or if I get a great new idea that I need to include.


End file.
